Colin Cowherd on NCAA football playoffs last year: “Let’s make one non negotiable rule — Indiana can never be invited again.”

The crazy thing is Miami was the 4th team in the ACC. ACC by far the strongest conference this year.

Ha. Cowherd has a bad take every other day. He's an entertainer not an insightful or knowledgeable source. Indiana shouldn't be invited to the playoffs. Johnny-come-lately fans, arrogant new money, poor winners backed by Mark Cuban. Not a fun group. The trophy should really go to James Madison. At this point NCAA football needs to compensate the smaller teams. Just as soccer academy teams get compensation for the investment and the development of a youth player that is transferred, the likes of James Madison need to be compensated for developing players that the bigger schools did not have the foresight to take.

I'll also add that some of these "sports" analysts appear on political news shows frequently Stephen A on CNN, Will Cain on Fox News again recently, and many more. Funny. They are paid to incite rage bait.

There's a lot of downvotes on this -- is this a controversial statement? I don't take it to mean Indiana doesn't have a good coach/good players/guys that don't work hard. But this is the state of college sports. In the old days guys were getting paid under the table & certain schools dominated. Now everything is out in the open & a big state school like Indiana can be competitive recruiting when they have an open checkbook. I don't think it's controversial at all & I think Indiana fans who watched them be horrible forever would know how important Cuban's backing is/was.

The reality is that a Cuban type could make UMass competitive next year. Is that good for the sport? Maybe/maybe not. In basketball what is stopping some rich donor from choosing an HBCU to be a superpower. I think schools that have been doing well are feeling threatened. There's an opportunity for other schools to find big money donors & enter the mix. There's also an opportunity for the front pack to just get better & better (see lack of upsets in basketball NCAAT last year -- maybe a result of good schools paying for depth pieces when a few years ago those guys would've gone to mid majors to start).

There's something about football experts that they lack expertise.

Just this season Nick Saban and another ESPN clown both picked Alabama over Indiana (they lost by 35 freaking points) and Miami over Indiana.

OK, the Miami pick can be justified but picking Alabama over Indiana was just plain stupid.

And Phil Knight at Oregon, has done what over the last 20+ years?

Football would be more interesting with more touchdowns, less field goals. Every broadcast or show glorifies both QB1s. While "it's all about the quarterback" is true in todays football, everyone's goal should be to stop it. What about the running game, bring it back! Give offenses the ability to THROW THE BALL TO THE BACKS!

setting aside the obvious -- this quote didn't age well -- there is a weird contradiction between college football and other college sports, popularly, march madness, but soccer, track, and running as well. in march madness we invite a ton of teams and "let god sort em out." we even delight in a cinderella run.

for some reason college football is about rewarding the regular season overdog. they would freak out if some runner who didn't even won conference won nationals.

personally i find it boring. i like getting other colleges some air time. i like not being sure how the games come out. i get bored with some sort of "soccer champions league" sensibility where i see the same few schools every year.

and the crazy part is bowl football is the outlier. every other football division is playoff and a decent size one. every other sport is either a playoff or regional-nationals. only football do they want to pout if the obvious schools don't win every year. or get upset if cinderella shows up.

is it the money? the cartel-like hold that used to be, every conference had its auto bid to some bowl? the way we used to squeeze 12-0 mid majors even out of any chance to make a claim? the irony is, it's harmless to give james madison a round to be shown as somewhat hollow. but let's do it on the field and not paper.

that and i don't understand why the 5th best team from some power conference feels so entitled. if you don't like the implications of that kind of mid finish, maybe every name brand school shouldn't be in 4 conferences, where someone's ox has to get gored to make a playoff field with some conference diversity.

setting aside the basic amateurism issues and short-termism with the system awash in cash......

one issue i see with college sports is the rank order tends to reinforce itself due to prestige and limited loyalty. a coach who takes a smaller name team to a conference championship or national success, doesn't stay there and build a dynasty. they get hired by the NY Giants or Ohio State. the next guy is not as good. normal working order restores itself.

similarly, if you're saying cuban bought this, few donors do it for life. for various reasons the money trough will dry up. without the money (and perhaps with a coach off to greener pastures), does it remain a prestige destination?

Or, better yet. Let’s don’t make that rule.

Cignetti figured out the new rules faster than other programs. Welcome to the world of pretty much everything. Next year, everyone else will be following IU’s model.

He’s a poor man’s Skip Bayless with a face for radio